


To Be Needed

by shadowsfan



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Canon sex, Davos duty kink, M/M, Unapologetic shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 16:12:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9769814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsfan/pseuds/shadowsfan
Summary: Davos feels unappreciated at the Wall but finds out that Stannis needs him more than ever.





	

Davos stood in front of the weirwood tree.  He could feel the rough texture of the bark beneath his leather glove.  Though others found heart trees to be a source of spiritual comfort, he felt unmoved staring at the carved “face”.  He didn’t know what had drawn him here.  He’d set out walking, feeling unsettled after weeks at the Wall.  He was so far from home, missing Marya’s warm laugh and the exuberant shouts of the boys as they played in the yard.  What would they think if they could see him now? Stannis’ attempts to rally the Northmen had been unsuccessful for the most part, as were the negotiations with the Wildlings.  The snows were becoming more frequent and heavier.  Winter was coming and with it, death, in the form of the unknown menace from beyond the Wall.  Melisandre seemed to gain more influence over the king and queen each day, and Davos wondered if Stannis even valued his counsel anymore.  Sometimes it all seemed so hopeless.  

 

Having found no answers in the wood, Davos returned to Castle Black.  He strode the dank hallway to his rooms, anxious for a warm fire to ward off the bone-numbing cold.  Rounding the last turn he stopped short, recognizing the guard at the door ─ the king’s man.  His heartbeat quickened.

 

“Where have you been?” King Stannis, standing with his back turned, barked into the fire, depriving Davos of the chance to study his eyes and to discern his mood.

 

Davos shut the door behind him, cutting off the draft.  His muscles slackened with relief in the relative warmth of the room.

 

“I was attending to my duties, Your Grace.”

 

“I’ve been to the stables, the yard and the storerooms.  You were nowhere to be found.”

 

“I went for a walk, after seeing to the men and supplies.”

 

“A walk?” Stannis turned abruptly, pinning him with an accusatory glare. “Where?”

 

“In the woods.  The Black Brothers told of a heart tree not far─”

 

“A heart tree?!” Stannis cut him off, his eyes narrowing.  “I thought you no longer held such superstitions.”  His eyes roamed Davos’ face so intently that Davos longed to shrink from his gaze but knew to do so would be unwise.

 

“I do not, truth be told.”  Davos glanced down at his boots, wondering how to explain.  “I no longer worship the Seven, and yet, of late, I find my thoughts returning to my wife and my remaining sons.  I thought it could do no harm to pray to the Mother for their safety, and it might be of some comfort.”  He kept his eyes downward, waiting for the inevitable rebuke.  The king was not a religious man.  Davos didn’t expect him to understand.

 

Stannis made a disapproving sound.  “It is dangerous for you to be walking alone in these woods without your guard.  You left no word as to where you were going.”

 

Something coiled around Davos’ insides and squeezed.  Had the king been worried for his safety?  No. Davos dismissed the notion as wishful thinking.  Stannis had little need of him of late, pressed as he was with the queen and the Red Woman.  He remembered a time when he would have found comfort in the company of his lordship, now his king, not in a remote patch of woods in front of a lonely tree.  The knot in his belly grew more uncomfortable as Davos tried to remember the last time Stannis had sought out his company ─ or his comfort.

 

“Was there something you wish me to do, Your Grace?” Davos offered, before his thoughts betrayed him.

 

Stannis sniffed and turned back to the fire, fidgeting with a glove.  “You are my Hand.  I have need of your counsel.  I expect you to be available at all times.”

 

His words were stern but lacked bite.  To Davos, this seemed more than an official visit.  He studied Stannis’ face.  The flickering flames intensified deep worry lines and dark circles under his eyes.  Still, Davos found his features as pleasing as he had when he’d first laid eyes on him as a young man during the siege of Storm’s End.  Davos was closer to Stannis than to any man.  Theirs was a bond forged in desperate times and battle tested over the years.  These days, he’d begun to wonder if Stannis had grown weary of his company.  Judging from the ache in his chest, it was clear that it was not only his wife and sons that he’d been missing.  Not daring to give voice to his true thoughts, Davos thought it best to offer an apology.

 

“Forgive me, Your Grace.  I’ll not stray so far from you again without sending word of my intentions.”

 

Stannis grunted, which Davos took as a sign of appeasement.  He stepped closer to the king. He wanted to offer to take his cloak, but at the same time he was fearful that Stannis might not want to stay.  Stannis made the decision for him, removing his gloves as Davos moved quickly to take them, and his cloak.  While removing the heavy fur, Davos’ eyes fell upon the back of the king’s neck.  Despite the rough conditions at Castle Black, his hair was neatly trimmed.  Though Stannis was not overly concerned or vain about his dress, Davos knew that he was fastidious about his grooming; only the increased length of his beard was a concession to the hardship of life at the Wall.  Catching a fleeting scent of spiced soap from a recent wash, Davos was suddenly overcome with a desire to bury his face against Stannis’ skin and inhale deeply.  The ache in his chest intensified, forcing him to bite his tongue.  He stepped away quickly lest he give in to temptation and shame himself, hoping that Stannis would blame the crimson flush spreading across his face to his proximity to the fire.

 

They stood in awkward silence, Stannis staring into the fire while Davos stood attentively nearby, ready to serve.  Davos wondered what in the seven hells was on the king’s mind.  The waiting was torture, his mind conjuring all manner of requests, both wonderful and terrible.  Finally, when he was nearly ready to suggest something foolish, Stannis spoke, the words tumbling forth from his mouth like men deserting a sinking ship.

 

“We’ve been at Castle Black a fortnight and I’ve little to show for it.  The queen talks of nothing but the draft in her quarters and how Melisandre is inattentive to her needs.  Melisandre talks of nothing but her visions in the flames and the will of R’hllor, and yet she tells me nothing of value.  Jon Snow talks of nothing but the lack of supplies and Mance Rayder.  Everyone wants something from me always.  I’m being pulled in a thousand different directions and yet we are no closer to building a military force capable of defending the Wall than we were when we arrived.”  He met Davos’ gaze, leaving him unsettled by the brightness of his eyes.  “Your counsel has been sorely missed.  You─ You always know what I need to hear, whether the course be good or bad.” Stannis’ voice softened to a whisper, as if he were now speaking to himself.  “You always know what I need.”  

 

The look he gave Davos then was so raw that Davos had to swallow hard to relieve the tension that constricted his throat.  Davos knew exactly what the king needed because Davos himself had thought of little else these past long and lonely nights.  He knew now why Stannis had come to his quarters unannounced.

 

“Your Grace,” Davos growled, so overcome with emotion that he could barely force out the words.  “May I?”

 

He was reaching for Stannis even as the king’s head bowed in a barely perceptible nod.   Jerking him forcefully against his body, Davos eagerly crushed his lips against Stannis’ mouth.  Stannis froze for a moment, his body rigid and unyielding as Davos kissed him roughly, his greedy tongue forcing its way past Stannis’ thin lips.  Davos knew that Stannis had never accepted the act of physical intimacy as anything other than weakness of character.  Intercourse was something that should be abstained from entirely except for the purpose of procreation.  Davos also knew that despite his reluctance, Stannis would allow him to lead, would welcome his firm guidance and surrender to his baser needs soon enough.  The look of utter contentment on his face after their previous couplings had convinced Davos that his motives were virtuous and his actions necessary in service of his king.

 

His hand trembled as he struggled to unlace the king’s breeches, whether it was from the cold or nerves Davos wasn’t certain.  No longer a young man, he stiffly dropped to his knees, turning his full attention to the stubborn leather.  When he used his teeth to tug at an especially resistant knot, Stannis let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a whimper.  The growing bulge at the front of his trousers indicated that the king was receptive to Davos’ attentions and the sight of it had Davos himself becoming quite uncomfortable from the pressure building between his own legs.  Stannis shuddered when Davos took him into his mouth.  Davos met his gaze, seeking permission as always but Stannis’ eyes were dark and glassy, staring but not seeing as Davos pleasured him.  The stone was cold against his knees but Stannis’ body burned, flesh hot against his tongue, warming him to his core.  Davos lost himself for a time: to the heat radiating from Stannis’ skin, the soft gasps of pleasure that his touch drew forth, the clenching and unclenching of Stannis’ fists at his sides as he fought against complete surrender.  When Stannis’ thighs tensed and his hips jerked forward, Davos regained his senses.  He knew from experience that Stannis would wish this encounter to end as quickly as possible, and all the signs were pointing toward an imminent conclusion.  Yet the king’s words still rang in his ears ─  _ you always know what I need _ .  Indeed Davos knew what Stannis needed as sure as he knew the waters off Cape Wrath.  His king deserved more than a quick lick and a tug, the likes of which he could procure at any brothel in Moletown ─ were he to seek comfort in such places.

 

“Here,” he croaked softly, rising clumsily to his feet.  Keeping Stannis firmly in hand he glanced toward the bed.  It would be cold at first but would soon warm with the two of them in it.  “I would lie with you ─ if I may.  You need rest as much as─”  How should he say it?  It was best not to belabor the thing lest the king begin to think too much and retreat into the familiar cloak of abstinence.  Davos kissed him again, hard on the mouth.  It had been too long and the need too great to let this chance elude them.  The cold made undressing impractical even if Davos had the patience, but still he managed to maneuver Stannis to the bed and somehow ended up with his breeches down past his hips.  Davos nearly came when their thighs touched, the unexpected shock of heat overwhelming in its intensity.  Stannis looked dazed, compliant, vulnerable ─ his cock pulsed in Davos’ grip.  The blood rushed to Davos’ head and the room spun.

 

...

  
Davos woke first, unsure that he’d even fallen asleep at all.  The faint sounds of activity in the yard below as the men began attending to their pre-dawn duties told him that it was nearly time to rise.  Stannis’ rhythmic breathing beside him made his heart swell with pride and a sense of something that he was unable to describe, even to himself.  It was unheard of for his king to sleep so soundly and past the time when the men awoke.  Davos would need to wake him soon, or there would be seven hells to pay, but his eyes lingered on Stannis’ face a bit longer, savoring the peaceful expression for which he alone was responsible.  The sense of peace consumed him as well.  Their joining had done more than sated his lust, it had brought the comfort he had sought from the weirwood.  It was such a simple thing ─  to know that Stannis needed him, that he shared this part of himself with no other man or woman.  Perhaps being needed was enough to see Davos through the long winter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Vana for looking this over on her vacay.


End file.
